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A personal appeal – are you against NC’s Amendment One? We need your support for the home stretch!

Submitted by Pam Spaulding on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 15:32

This is written off-the-cuff, no one asked for me to write this. I just wanted to let you know - my social media friends - that I believe we can defeat Amendment One with your help.

This morning I gave a donation to the Coalition to Protect North Carolina Families, which is working night and day to help defeat Amendment One here in my home state, and trust me, I had to dig deep -- enough to hurt. And I'm not exaggerating - $1K. That's money from my rainy day fund that I probably shouldn't have parted with.

Even worse, I am in a precarious situation because at this point I am losing pay because of my battle with rheumatoid arthritis (which has me at doctors or out sick a lot), and who knows how long I will be able to work full time -- or work at all -- for very long. But that's how life rolls...

But this is my state -- and my rights are under attack by people who don't know me, don't care to know me or my family, and think they are "protecting marriage" with this bigoted ballot initiative that will be before voters on May 8. I'm a native North Carolinian whose family has deep roots in the state and has played a significant part in the business and civil rights history of NC and this amendment, which would restrict rights, not expand them, is wrong for our state.

If I can do it, so can others, but maybe you just haven't just found the moment to do so, and you certainly don't have to dig as deep I did:

Maybe some of you are still skeptical and think that North Carolina, the last state in the South to be faced with an amendment because its Dem-led legislature was able to kill the bills seven times prior to the 2010 GOP takeover, will not be able to beat this back.

Yeah, it will be hard - if we don't get people out to the polls. But it won't be hard to defeat this if we accomplish that -- North Carolinians are opposed to the amendment, according to the latest Elon University poll.

The nonpartisan poll revealed that 54.2% of North Carolinians surveyed either oppose or strongly oppose “an amendment to the constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.” Only 37.8% polled were in any way supportive of Amendment One. The poll also illustrates a dramatic increase in the category of “strong opposition” to this type of amendment from only one year ago, with 34% now voicing strong opposition versus 21.8% in February 2011.

Yes, the whole problem for those working against the amendment has always been about GOTV. I’ve said that from the beginning; people in NC if educated about the harms are already primed to reject this discrimination. We have the votes to defeat it, but saying you oppose the amendment is very different from getting your butt out of the chair during early no-excuse voting or on May 8.

Ted Olsen thinks we can win - he's coming to NC

OK, don't take my word for it. American Foundation for Equal Rights attorney Ted Olson will be here in NC on April 1 to lend his support to an anti-Amendment One rally in Greensboro. Karen Ocamb reports:

Renowned conservative Republican attorney and marriage equality hero Ted Olson is going to Greensboro, North Carolina on April 1 for a rally to help defeat the antigay initiative Amendment One. The proposed antigay constitutional amendment on the ballot for the May 8 Republican Primary would not only ban marriage rights for same sex couples but would prohibit recognition of all same sex unions.

...“I’m going to go down to North Carolina in April. There’s a big rally down there. I’m going to go down and do my bit,” Olson said. “We want to win one. You heard the [Perry v Schwarzenegger Prop 8 trial] witness talk about how the outcome [of antigay ballot measures] is always against gay and lesbian people. It would be really great if we started changing that. And maybe North Carolina is a chance.”

Voters in NC - here’s a 1-stop voter info site so you’re ready to vote against Amendment One:

Not everyone can give, but the power of social media (I'm on FB, Twitter and G+) is palpable. Sharing, retweeting DO make a difference because it raises awareness and galvenates people into action online and offline. You can arm yourself with tools to let folks know about Amendment One and its harms.

Amendment One will not "protect marriage," as some have talked about. It will prevent any legal recognition of same-sex couples. And that includes domestic partnerships, civil unions or any sort of recognition that heterosexual people take for granted when they get a marriage license. There are a lot of intended -- and unintended -- harms that will be caused by the poorly written amendment -- read up on them here.

So again, please help us out here -- a win will deal a huge blow to national anti-LGBT forces. You can contribute here:

I'm planning on doing my second donation soon. Even though it's small, every cent counts.

I think all the organizing on the ground in the world won't defeat this amendment. It's necessary that we all do our part and it's why I've been to 20+ anti-amendment events, but is not alone sufficient.

If we can't go to the airwaves, if we aren't on television and radio, then we can't win.

We have to do both. Anyone who can donate, please do so. Early voting starts in about 5 weeks.

I just watched the Chapel Hill Town Council on channel 18 pass a resolution against the amendment.

They have supported marriage equality and urged the General Assembly not to put this amendment on the ballot in the past, but it was nice to see them take this next obvious step in being against this amendment as well.

I might be the only person that piece of the airwaves, but it was there! =p

OK, don't take my word for it. American Foundation for Equal Rights attorney Ted Olson will be here in NC on April 1 to lend his support to an anti-Amendment One rally in Greensboro. Karen Ocamb reports:

Renowned conservative Republican attorney and marriage equality hero Ted Olson is going to Greensboro, North Carolina on April 1 for a rally to help defeat the antigay initiative Amendment One. The proposed antigay constitutional amendment on the ballot for the May 8 Republican Primary would not only ban marriage rights for same sex couples but would prohibit recognition of all same sex unions.

...“I’m going to go down to North Carolina in April. There’s a big rally down there. I’m going to go down and do my bit,” Olson said. “We want to win one. You heard the [Perry v Schwarzenegger Prop 8 trial] witness talk about how the outcome [of antigay ballot measures] is always against gay and lesbian people. It would be really great if we started changing that. And maybe North Carolina is a chance.”

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